“I’m Samaera Hirsch, I’m 20 years old… I’ve been singing my entire life, literally since I was 14 months old.”
Samara is what I would consider a relatively new artist, having released just two singles on Spotify, but her journey started a long time before she stepped into the spotlight. Learning how to harness her natural ability was the first step, and purchasing a mic followed swiftly behind. Her public career began recently, over quarantine, after being introduced to her producer via a mutual friend. Their professional chemistry was electric, and with his help, she transformed a childhood passion into something a little more tangible.
Like most college-aged artists, Samaera didn’t consider the fact that music could one day be more for her than a personal hobby. Horror stories of artists going broke, facing rejection, or just straight up washing out flooded her thoughts, and until recently, she hadn’t given it any serious thought. I asked her when and why that changed, and she answered cavalierly, “I don’t know… but this year I decided that instead of going to grad school after college, I want to start working in the entertainment industry. I really can’t see myself doing anything else at this point.” Samaera’s confidence in her chosen career path is not only inspiring, it’s necessary. Being proud of her musical ability is the key factor in her ability to keep pushing forward when she does face criticism.
As a writer myself, I wanted to learn more about how she was able to work so quickly at getting music out and ready for release. She did not hold back, letting me know that while she does write all her music, “I probably write at least one song a day, so basically, most of them are bad.” Like anyone who has tried to write songs, stories, or the like, one knows that this is a surefire way to eventually strike gold. An art teacher of mine once told me there’s no such thing as a mistake in the creative process, and it seems like Samaera holds similar ideals when it comes to her own writing. Samaera doesn’t have a concrete writing style, “Sometimes I’ll get random lyrics in my head and write them down and just go from there. Other times I’ll think of a melody first, either in my head or on piano.” She acknowledged that she hasn’t found the perfect solution to writer’s block, but then again, who has?
For now, Samaera is focusing on getting her debut EP out. She plans on including 6 to 8 songs, releasing one more single before it’s drop in the hopes of growing her audience a bit more. She doesn’t know the exact date of the release yet, “because prior to that it is going to be sent to some labels and producers in the industry as a demo.” When I asked for a rough estimate of when she thinks it will be ready, she responded that if all goes well, she anticipates a finished version being done by early-to-mid 2021. Although she wasn’t ready to make any explicit statements regarding her plans for the upcoming year, Samaera did note that she is enthused by the idea of a return to live performances, and in a covid-vaccinated world, easy access to studios for recording demos. Like many others, she’s done her best to re-imagine herself artistically in a time that is not necessarily accessible for breakout artists, “but I’m definitely looking forward to what next year has to offer.”
Feature Image Credit: Carolyn Ellis
About Madeline Matson
I’m Maddi, a senior at Tulane studying English and Sociology. Aside from The Crescent, I’m a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, and currently intern at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Outside of school and work, I love going on long walks in Audubon Park, thrifting at Salvation Army, and doing hot yoga with my roommates.
I’m Maddi, a senior at Tulane studying English and Sociology. Aside from The Crescent, I’m a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, and currently intern at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Outside of school and work, I love going on long walks in Audubon Park, thrifting at Salvation Army, and doing hot yoga with my roommates.
